also won. the taj mahal in india was number three. >> san francisco landmark made the top five. >> come on. on this tuesday night, american isis? federal agents open fire in boston killing a man being tracked around the clock. fears he was planning to launch an attack as soon as today. but were others involved? also the eyes in the sky all across the country. a secretive fbi air force, normal looking planes bristling with high-tech gear that could be peeking into your neighborhood, even your cell phone, who are they watching? cruise disaster, a race against time for hundreds missing, feared trapped under water, inside a capsized ship. rescuers banging hammers on the hull listening for any response. and the little pink pill for women.

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men have a little blue pill to help in the bedroom. are women about to get a boost of their own? "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc world news headquarters in new york, this the requests nbc nightly news." rorlgtding tonight, lester holt. good evening, we start here with a deadly confrontation outside boston today between law enforcement and a man they feared might be preparing to launch an isis inspired attack. that man who police and federal agents had gone to question is dead, shot after he came at them. authorities tonight still on the move in the boston area, trying to piece together what he may have been involved with, and whether others might be connected to it. our pete williams has late details. >> just after 7:00 aime officials say, a boston police officer and an fbi agent approached a man they wanted to question in a terrific expert when they say he drew this knife, came at them and refused to drop it.

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>> we saw the video, it appears that the law enforcement officers were backing away before they exercised deadly force. >> reporter: the man was identified as osama rahim. age 2669 roslindale section of boston. officials say he had been under investigation for weeks by a jttf, a joint terrorism task force. >> the subject had been under 24-hour surveillance. this investigation had been working side by side from minute one with the jttf partners, including the boston police department. >> reporter: officials tell nbc news, they were concerned rahim had become radicalized by isis-inspired social media and was actively considering an attack on police officers in boston within the next few days, in a city still traumatized by the terrorist bombings of the 2013 boston marathon. although they had no warrant for his arrest, they wanted to question him, fearing he was preparing to take action soon. >> obviously there was enough information

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that we thought it was appropriate to question him about his doings today. >> reporter: his brother, a former boston-area imam said the family is grieving but wrote on facebook that rahim was shot in the back three times while talking to his father on the phone saying i can't breathe. police say he was shot twice in the abdomen and torso, not the back. police and federal agents searched rahim's roslindale home today, another address in the boston suburbs and in rhode island. officials say they're investigating whether rahim was in touch with others who might also have been radicalized by isis inspired propaganda. tonight officials say they believe they have disrupted a potential terror pollute, but now they are detaining other people for questioning, people they say rahim was in touch with to see if anyone else was involved with his plot or whether other

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attacks were planned. lester? >> pete williams in our washington newsroom tonight, thanks. and we're learning details this evening about the fbi's secretive airborne surveillance program. it's centered on a fleet of order looking planes with extraordinary capabilities. including the ability to lock on to your cell phone. stephanie gosk has been looking into it. >> reporter: fbi investigations often rely on surveillance to either find criminals or catch them in the act. but what many may not realize is how often that surveillance comes from the sky. an associated press investigation found that the fbi controls a fleet of planes. mounted with sophisticated video cameras and often cell phone tracking devices called cell tower simulators. >> these are fake cell towers that send out a signal and force every phone within their range to send back identifying information. >> reporter: the planes, possibly more than 100, are registered using fake companies. the a.p. identified at least 13. the fbi flew about 30 cities in 11 states in just one month. this plane with a can a are a underneath was used to conduct surveillance over baltimore this spring after riots broke out over freddie gray's death. flight radar tracked the plane's route circling the city. the fbi says they have been conducting surveillance from the air for years.

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that it's easier than from the ground and that it is done legally. fake aviation companies are created to protect pilots and the secrecy of operation, officials say, but civil liberties groups openly question whether current laws reflect new and potentially invasive technology. at a time when the public is openly debating what surveillance powers the government should have, the fbi's program is creating even more concern. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. speaking of that debate over domestic surveillance, late today the senate ended a battle over programs that were halted when the patriot act expired sunday night. the senate passed the freedom act which restores but also overhauls powers under the patriot act that will allow americans' phone records to be collected again. under this bill telecom companies will hold the records and the government needs court approval to see them. there were new scares today against commercial aircraft, five flights threatened over the

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u.s. and mexico, by someone claiming explosive devices were on board. nbc's tom costello reports. >> reporter: on the tarmac in philadelphia this morning, american flight 648 met by police and a bomb squad after someone phoned in a threat. the pilot had just landed unaware of the threat when the tower asked for the number of people on board. >> those on board -- what seems to be the problem? >> it was a hoax, phone threat. certainly not a very funny one. >> reporter: it now brings to more than 20 the number of planes threatened over the past eight days and calls to the tsa ops center and local police departments. the fbi is reviewing phone logs and audio recordings, trying to track down whoever is claiming there's a chemical weapon on board the planes. today's threats deemed not credible came hours after acting tsa chief melvin caraway was ousted. following a scheduling internal investigation that found undercover

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red teams were able to smuggle mock weapons past airport screeners 95% of the time. >> it's a complete and utter failure. the terrorists only need to be right once. we can never fail, and this is in the category of catastrophic. >> reporter: but former tsa chief john miss toll says applying striker security measures isn't practical. >> there is no zero risk in air travel. and to try to provide that 100% guarantee that some people may want would cause at least two hour wait times in airports every day. >> sitting on that threatened plane in philly today, matt tremain was thinking about the tsa. >> kind of like, why am i taking off my shoes, my belt. why am i going through a body scan, if everything gets through anyway. >> reporter: the tsa has a $7.3 billion budget and employs 60,000 people. last year it screened a record number of passengers and confiscated 2,200 weapons. tom costello nbc news, washington. new revelations

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about the anthrax shipments mistakenly mailed by a lab in utah. it turns out the pentagon was one of at least 20 sites to receive one of those packages, according to defense officials. the shipments came from a batch that was later found to contain live anthrax. though officials say there's no indication that live spores were actually sent to the pentagon. the cdc is now expected to suspend all anthrax shipments until it can find out what went wrong. new developments tonight in the largest recall in american history, those dangerously and potentially deadly air bags in tens of millions of cars on the road right now. tonight comes word many of the air bags already replaced will need to be replaced again. nbc's kelly o'donnell has our report. >> reporter: the largest recall ever, 34 million takata air bags, but tonight there is still not a complete list of makes and models affected. so far, 7 of the 11 automakers have identified which of the their vehicles

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need replacement air bags. six deaths and at least 100 injuries are linked to takata air bags, including christian sprous who says this piece of metal was pulled from her neck six weeks ago. >> i don't want someone to go through the pain i've gone through so far, the fear that i've had to relive over and over again. >> reporter: for the first time a u.s.-based executive from the japanese air bag manufacturer appeared before congress and said takata still does not know the root cause of the air bag rupturs. >> we deeply regret each instance in which someone has been injured or killed. >> reporter: lawmakers are frustrated. >> so the replacement could be as dangerous. >> reporter: many drivers who already had air bags replaced will need a second new air bag because takata is phasing out the first replacement model. >> they have to have them replaced again? >> that's correct. >> reporter: lawmakers were surprised that takata says it is still using the

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propellant ammonium nitrate, even though it acknowledged that chemical may be a factor in the faulty air bags. officials said be patient. replacing 34 million air bags will take years. kelly o'donnell, nbc news, the capitol. overseas tonight, a tourist nightmare is unfolding in china. a cruise ship with hundreds of passengers aboard, overturned and sank in bad weather. the captain, one of the few survivors, is in custody, and rescuers are searching for anyone who might still be trapped. our report tonight from nbc's bill neely. >> reporter: a rescuer hammers the hull of the upturned ship hoping for a response suddenly hearing something, perhaps a sign of life inside. it was one of the few moments of hope, amid china's worst shipping disaster in 70 years. 456 people on board, nearly all are missing. only a few survived, this 65-year-old woman

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was pulled up after divers found her in an air pocket. among other dozen others saved was the captain whose state media says was pulled from the river two hours after his ship capsized. the ship was cruising, the yangtze river when it was hit by hurricane force winds and torrential rain. the four-deck ship began to sink in the dark around 9:30 and went down within minutes. it was swept down stream for nearly two miles. the crew of the ship made no distress calls. for relatives, it's agony. this man's parents were on board. others are furious, claiming authorities aren't helping enough. more than 3,000 people are searching, but after two nights, the new day brings only faint hope of finding anyone still alive. bill neely, nbc news, london. just days after he was re-elected president of world soccer's governing

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body, sepp blatter has abruptly resigned saying the organization he's run for 17 years quote, needs a profound overhaul. several of blatter's top officers were charged last week in a massive corruption scandal. blatter himself was not charged, there are reports tonight that he is under investigation by the fbi. turning now to the campaign trail and the ever growing number of republicans running for president. they know only up of them can win nomination, but there are some big consolation prizes in the race for the white house. nbc news political director and moderator of "meet the press" chuck todd explains. >> reporter: at marianne's diner in derry, new hampshire, senator lindsey graham introduced himself. >> i listen to them all and i think, i don't know, there's just too many. >> reporter: the challenge for graham, he's number nine in a growing republican field. >> i'm running. >> i'm running. >> i'm running. >> i am running for president. >> reporter: by the

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end of the week ten candidates will be in the race. by mid-summer more than 15. >> why are there 15 candidates? >> number one, it's an open seat. some people are doing it to get their name out there to set themselves up for later. >> look. it's a rambunctious deal. we have 75 people running the last i checked? >> reporter: some think they're poised to be president. others think it's the best way to draw attention to a favorite issue. >> how do you get out? >> you don't get out. you don't get out. >> reporter: why else would candidates stuck in low single digits run if they have little chance of winning? here's a former candidate. >> frankly, they may have some selfish interests around refreshing their brand as a way to commercialize their career. >> reporter: tv contracts, book deals, million dollar lobbying jobs and speaker fees, the surge of vanity candidates is only pecking up steam. lindsey graham hopes a little truth telling will help him stands out. >> you believe hispanics are justified in believing the republican party doesn't care about them right now? >> yes, to some extent

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i do. >> expect the debate stage to be crowded. imagine adding seven more people to this picture. there's only going to be one nominee, but there are plenty of other candidates calculating that they, too, can win even by losing. chuck todd, nbc news, dairy, new hampshire. a lot more still ahead tonight, including the little pink pill that could be a game-changer in the bedroom. men have viagra, why hasn't there been a sex pill for women until now. that could be about to change.

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ahead tonight,

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we're back now with a story that will be of high interest to a lot of adults. it's definitely an adult topic. it's about a little pink pill under consideration by the fda. no shortage of sex pills being marketed for men. many you see during commercial breaks during this broadcast. why not for women. and is that all about to change? our national correspondent kate snow reports. >> here's to you. >> amanda and ben parish were crazy about each other when they met after their first marriages broke up. but a few years in, things changed. >> i was becoming one of those people who would try to be in bed and maybe pre2e7bd to be asleep before ben came to bed. >> reporter: but then amanda signed up for a clinical trial for a little pink pill she took every night. >> it didn't make me feel differently during the day. what it did do, at the end of a long day, no matter how tired i was, i wanted to initiate, and it was not work to do that. things were different.

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>> reporter: amanda was testing a drug intended for premenopausal women. in that trial, funded by the drug-maker women on the drug reported improvements in sexual desire. and one more sexual event per month than women not taking the drug. >> it increases dopamine and allows the brain to deal more sexual, more desire, more arousal. >> it's just you and your lady. >> part of the pr blitz for the drug, a snide parody of all those commercials aimed at men. >> are we really so far behind that we don't think women have the right to sexual desire? >> for the fda to approve this drug would be giving in to a public relations campaign. >> reporter: twice before the fda refused to approve the drug, asking for more data on safety concerns, like whether the side effects of sleepiness would impair driving. other concerns today the fda mentioned low

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blood pressure fainting spells and whether those issues get worse if women drink alcohol while taking the pill. the drug-maker tells nbc news, patients will be advised to avoid alcohol use until they know how the drug affects them. >> what about people who think this may be a pharmaceutical company looking to make another buck? >> we know that it works, i mean, we experienced it. >> reporter: there's no perfect drug the parishes say, but this one sure has their friends talking. kate snow, nbc news, nashville. up next here tonight, when lions attack, a woman's death raising questions about how close is too close.

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terrifying and tragic reminder what can happen when the worlds of animal and man collide when a lion mauled an american tourist to death yesterday at a south african wildlife park. that lion has been penned up tonight, but

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it's hardly the only one to get far too close for comfort. nbc's katy tur has more. >> reporter: the 22-year-old american woman was in suv driving through loyion park with a male guide at the wheel, taking pictures of lions like these with their windows down, witnesses say, when suddenly a lioness lunged at the passenger window, falling the woman. the driver suffered wounds to his arms while trying to help. >> our guys rushed over and they chased the lion away from the car. the ambulance was here very quickly, within minutes. but, unfortunately, while the paramedics were treating the lady, she passed away. >> reporter: lion park promises nowhere can you get closer to a pride of lions but warns visitors to lock their doors and keep their windows shut. >> this is why we stress the point so much. these are wild animals. most of them were born in captivity. but they are not tame. >> reporter: that makes them dangerous, but tourists seeing lions up close sometimes get a false sense of security.

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unlocked doors. >> lock the door. oh, my gosh i didn't know they can do that. >> reporter: and open windows. lion park itself remains open, insisting its tours are safe. and reminding visitors to follow the rules. katy tur, nbc news, london. >> when we come back, a pair of long overlooked american heroes finally getting the honor they deserve.

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finally tonight, a long overdue tribute for a pair of american heroes. two world war ii veterans awarded the medal of honor in a ceremony nearly a century after they proved their bravery on battlefield. here's our senior white house correspondent chris jansing. >> reporter: this is the story of war and heroism, bigotry and justice. it's the story of private henry johnson and william themmin on separate battlefields in france in 191. johnson, just 5'4" and armed only with a knife, held off a surprise german attack with hand to hand combat. >> because he lived at a time when people were judged not by who they were, but by the

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color of their skin, he never got his recognition. >> reporter: william them shemin repeatedly led refuge in a bottle that lasted days. what motivated you? >> the unfairness of it all. they said he never got the medal he deserves because he was a jew. and that cut my heart out. >> reporter: today in the east room of the white house, that changed. fighting back tears, shaking hands steadied by the commander in chief, two doubters in their 80s accepted their dad's medal of honor. >> this is the most wonderful country in the world. >> the president of the united states standing in the white house to honor my wonderful father mentioned the name shemin. >> reporter: johnson's name would be spoken too. >> medal of honor to private henry johnson. >> the least we can do is to say we know who you are. we know what you did for us. we are forever

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grateful. >> reporter: two wrongs righted, a victory for them and their country. chris jansing, nbc news, washington. >> we salute their honor and memories tonight. that will do it for us on this tuesday evening. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc officers are leaving faster this year than any year since the exodus has begun. >> now at 6:00, trouble for san jose police. a record number of cadets enrolled in the police academy. forcing the department to do something it's never done before. >> good evening, i'm jessica aguirre. i'm raj mathai. shp sdchlt outsourcing for help. they don't have enough police officer. >> robert handa joins us with new details. robert?

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>> reporter: well, raj, as you know, the staffing shortage here is an ongoing situation. but now some of the problems have people concerned not only about public safety but whether the department will lower its standards to get more recruits. the san jose police department was scrambling to find enough officers this weekend, a regular weekends with no special events. officials confirm they needed to fill 16 officer shifts which they did mainly with mandatory overtime. then top brass revealed that the small police academy class that started friday has already lost three cadets. >> now we have 16. that will be washed down 20 to 30%. people who won't make it through. could bring us down even into the single digits. >> i think that we are in a bad situation, to be very candid. >> the department is now down to 855 officers. a drop from 1400 just six years ago. san jose is taking what some critics call